Feed control for liquids.



W. T. RUNCIE.

FEED CONTROL FOR LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1915.

1 ,21 8,002. Patented- Main 6, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

EEgL

W. T, RUNCIE.

FEED CONTROL FOR mums,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15 $916.

1 @QQQQ Patented Mar. 6, 1917 2 SHEETS-SHEET 21 5 vwc 14 F0 1 BEST AVAILABLE. CO P v WILLIAM T. RUNCIE, or MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

FEED CONTROL FOR LIQUIDS. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mal. 6,;1917.

Application filed June 16. 1916. Serial No. 103,934.

To all whom it may} concern:

Be it known that I. Human: T. RL'XCIE, a citizen of the l nited States, and a. resident of lllaplewo'od, Essex county, New Jersey,

have invented a new and useful Iinprovein boilers or other places as desired.

ment in Feed Controls for Liquids. of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relatesto improvements in feed controls for liquids. and more especially to that class of apparatus in which the supply of liquid to a given point, and particularly to another body of liquid, is regulated to the desired proportions and proportioned to the total supply of liquid. More particularly my invention is intended to control the supply of chemical solution to another body of liquid. such for instance as a body of water to be treated so that the supply of chemicals can be practically controlled, and to arrange the liquid feed so that the supply of chemicals is accurately proportioned to the total liquid supply so that the right quantity of chemical solution can always be maintained. The invention is especially applicable .to water softeners in which a body of raw water is supplied to a tank, and from which tank the water is withdrawn for use For such an apparatus my lIlVOlltlOll is arranged so as to withdraw a definite proportion of water from the main supply which goes into the tank, and this smaller portion which is drawn oil drives a train of gearing which drops a feed pipe in the chemi all solution tank so that the mouth of the feed pipe is always at the top of the chemical solution as the. latter is drawn oil and delivered into the main tank. In su'ch apparatus the flow of'water to the main tank and from the tank is not constant, and the apparatus controlling the feed of chemicals to the tank must beol such a nature as to operate when the water is being supplied to the tank so as to give the exact amount of chemicals desired. The principal object of my invention is to provide a simple apparatus by which this chemical supply can be accurately determined. and to make the feed control regulable so that any desired quantity of chcm icals can be supplied. thus adapting the ap- .paratus for use with waters' of varying quality to attain the desired softening cll'ect. As will bcumdcrstooil from the description which follows. the apparatus for controlling the supply of solution, such as a hemi al solution, can be used for other purposes if desired.

Reference IS to be had to the accompany-- ing drawings forming apart of-this specilication, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponrhng: parts in all the views.

Figure l is a broken vertical section showing the upper part of a water softening apparatus with my improvements applied thereto. I Fig. 2 is a detail. vertical section through the means for controlling: the chemical feed.

Fig.3 is a section taken at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a broken elevation showing the connection between the lowering drum and the feed'pipe in the chemical box.

Fig. 5 is a cross section through the feed control showing the water wheel thereof in cross section. y

Fig. 6 is a plan of the valve box controlling the supply of water to the feed control. 4

Fig. 7 is an end view of the feed pipe lowering drum showing the opposite end from. that shown in Fig. 4. and

Fig. 8 is a detail of the means for shutting oil the main feed when the main tank is full.

The tank 10 can be of any suitable construction. and this is the main supply tank which is to be lilled with water to be softened and from which the water is drawn for use. it is preferably provided with a Centrally arranged downtake pipe 11 into which the water and chemical are delivered as hereinafter described. Above the main tank and supported thereon is a casing 12 having a raw water-box 13 at the. top to whichwater is supplied from the main inlet pipe 14. this latter being; controlled by a valve 15 to which reference will-be ma\le hereafter. The water box 133 has a main outlet. 16 through the bottom which discharges upon the water wheel 17, this being Opening l'rom the water-box 13 is a second and smaller outlet '23 which discharges through a pipe .Z-l into the valve box 25, this having; a lliiIlSlt'lE-v partition 26 tormmg a 'llhc above ar- 1 main chamber 27, and at the side of this are smaller chan'ibers 28 and 29 which are separated by a partition 30. The chambers 28 and 29 contact with the main chamber 27 through ports or openings 31 and 5-2 in the partition 26, and the relative sizes of these. ports are controlled by the slide valve 33 which. slides on the partition 26, and by means of which the size of the openings 31 and 32 can be perfectly regulated. The chamber 28 has a waste pipe 34 opening from the bottom and delivering into a pipe which discharges into the downtake 11. The second chamber 2.) discharges through the pipe 37 into the casing 36 of the feed control gearing. This apparatus as shown in the casing 36 is a well-known type of water meter, but the details are unimportant. As illustrated the pipe 37 delivers water to the hollow axle of a water-wheel which drives a shaft 3!) in the. casing. and a partition 40 in the casing divides the latter so that the water-wheel is contained in a separate compartment with which the pipe 35. hereinafter rediaacd to connects. Obviously the type of eater-heel shown is not important. and any suitable wheel can be. substituted for that lllmtlilttftl. The shaft 259 connects thiough a train of gearing H with a countershat't 42 which is mounted in the casine 36 and projects outwardly therefrom. carr ing at its outer end a drum .3, and this has a cable 4% wound thereon the free end ol which connects with the free end of a feed pipe 45 which is contained in the chemical box to. This box contains suitable chemicals in solution. and the feed pipe 45 connects by means of a flexihle'connta'tion l? with the discharge pipe 48 deliverin e into the downtake 11. It will thus be seen that no water is wasted, that the outllow from the main casing 12 passes through the pipe 22 to the downtake, the water for driving the feed control passes through the pipe 35 t0 the downtake, and the chemical solution passes through the, pipe 48 to the downtakc.

In practice the box 46 is supplied with a chemical solution sullicicnt for a run of any necessary length-s:rv twelve hours. and it can be supplied in any convenient way. It is provided with a stirrer or agitator in which is driven by a shalt l6". which in turn is driven by gears 46" connected with the shaft 18. The arrangement of the agitator is not claimed as novel.

It will be seen that the regulation oi chemicals can be controlled to -a nice't. first bccansea definite proportion-oi the water supply passes through the pipe A to the valve box next because the valve 553 can be. set so as to permit just the desired quantity of wa r to pass from the chamber 27 to the hamber 29. and from thence. through the pipe. 137 to the. controlling water-wheel 38, and further that. thegearing 41 is ar- BEST COP ranged and timed so that the drum l will unwind the cable H; and permit the leed pipe 45 to drop at just the rerpiiredrate ol speed.

The drum 43 is provided with a second cord 49 to which a counter-halancine weight so is attached, and I prefer to have the drum connect with the shaft 42 by means of a 'ratchet wheel 51 which is fast on the shall.

and a pawl 52 which is pivoted on the drum. the latter being: loose. on the shaft so that the ratchet wheel and drmn will turn together in one direction, but the drum will turn freely in the opposite direction. Thus when the feed pipe has been lowered to its limit and it is to he raised ready for reuse. one can pull down on the cord l9 thus windin,g up the cord l-l. and the pawl 53 meanwhile. slidin; over the teeth of the ratchet wheel. I do not limit the invention to the particular means of connecting the gearing it with the feed pipe H. as an v suitable mcanscan be substituted for the particular drum shown. but the arrangement of waterdriven means for lowering the pipe as distinguished l'rom float actuated devices. together with means l'or determiniire the amount ol' water used For driving: the feed controlling a maratus. is important because it provides for very accurate regulation. and is ol such a mechanical nature that it is not likely to get out of order.

I prefer lo have littering space .33 in the upper part of the tank ll). and the water outlet is through the pipe it at the top.

To provide for shuttint. oll the water supply when the main tank is full. and l'or opening the. valve 15 to the supply when the water in the tank is lowered. I use the construction shown in Figs. 1 and L. .\s here shown the. crank 53 connects with the. stem of the valve 15. the latter being, ol' any wellknown balance valve type. and the crank 5-; connects by the link Bl with the tilting lever 55 which is l'ulcrumed on a support 5G. The lever 55 is provided with a counter-halancing weight 57- on one side ol the fulcrum. and on the other side it connects by means of a rod 5t) with a bucket. (it) which is open at the top and has a vent til at the bottom through which extendsthe stem (32 ot' a float valve. (34, a pin (F25 through the. upper part oi the. stem preventing, the latter from dropping! out. .Vheu the water rises in the tank it. strikes and closes the float .valve. til. and linally overllows into the bucket (to which then drops. thus actuating the valve. 15 and closing it. and when the water lowers the valve til drops permitting the escape of water from the bucket (30 and the weight 57 then tilts the lever 55 and opens the valve so as to permit the main water supply to H w again to the water box 13. 'l'ecd control apparatus, and main tank.

\Vbile I have shown a suitable means for shutting off the water supply when the tank is full and for opening it when necessary,

my invention is not at'all limited to the means shown, and any suitable apparatus can be used'for thispurpose.

It will be seen that when] the apparatus; is

pass over the water-wheel 17 and so through the pipe 22 to the downtake 11, and that the water-wheel will keep the stirrers 21 and 46 in ipption. Further that a smaller portion of raw water will pass throu h the pipe 24 to the valve box 25, that the c esired,amount of water and a measured amount will flow past the valve 33 to operate the water-Wheel 38 and its connected gearing, and that the waste water from the valve box will flow to the downtake. Consequently none of the water will be wasted and the chemical supply will be determined with the utmost nicety.

It will also'be understood that while I have shown my apparatuses superposed on a main tank, it can be placed at any desired elevationwith relation to the tank Without affecting the invention.

I claim lrAn apparatus of the kind described comprising a main tank, a main water supply for the tank, a valve box, means for diverting a portion of the water supply to the valve box,.a chemical box adapted to supply solution to the tank, and a water-driven apparatus operated by water from the valve box and arranged to control the discharge from the chemical box.

2'. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a main tank, a main water supply for the tank, a chemical box to supply the chemical solution to the tank, and water driven apparatus operated by water diverted from the main supply and operatively connected with the discharge from the chemical box to control it..

3. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a main tank, a main water sup ply for the tank, a chemical box,'a movable feed pipe in the chemical box arranged to discharge chemical seiution from the top of said solution, and water driven apparatus operated by water diverted from the main supply and comiccted with the feed pipe to control its height. 4

4-. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a main tank, a main water supply for the tank, a chemical box to contain chcuiicul solution having adischarge to supply thc main tank, a swinging feed pipe in the chemical box connected with the discharge thereof, awater wheel, a connection between the water wheel and the feed pipe' by which the movement of the water Wheel lowers the pipe, and means for driving the water wheel from a supply diverted from the main water supply. I

5. In an. apparatus of the kind described, the combination with the chemical box adapted to contain a chemical solution, and

a swinging member. in said box controlling the discharge therefrom, of a water Wheel, an operative connection between the water wheel and the swinging member in the chemical box, and means for supplying water to the water wheel.

6. In an apparatus of the kind described the combination with'the chemical box and the swinging feed pipe therein, of a water wheel, a drum connected with the water wheel and with the feed pipe, and means-for driving the water wheel.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described the combination with the chemical box and the swinging feed pipe therein, of a water wheel, means for driving the water wheel, a shaft connected by gearing with the water wheel, a drum having a ratchet connection with the said shaft, and acable connection between the drum and the feed pipe.

8. An apparatus of the kind described comprising a main tank, a main water supply, a chemical box discharging into the main tank, a swinging feed pipe in the chemical box connected with the outlet of the chemicalbox, a water wheel connected by a. train of gearing with the feed pipe, means for driving the water wheel by Water diverted from the main supply, and means for discharging said diverted water into the main tank.

9. In an apparatus of the kind described the combination with the main tank, the chemical box, and the swinging feed pipe in the chemical box arranged to discharge into the main, tank, of water-driven apparatus controlling the feed pipe, and a valve box, said valve box having a main compartment,

21 second compartment connected with the 

